


A Doctor Abroad

by KathyG



Series: John Watson's life [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Decision Making, Gen, John has to make an important decision, No Slash, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28813929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathyG/pseuds/KathyG
Summary: Now that John has achieved his ambition to become a fully certified doctor and has earned a GP license, he has a decision to make.  Shall he apply for a job as a general practitioner with the NHS, or try to train for the job he really wants?
Series: John Watson's life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015687
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	A Doctor Abroad

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Besleybean from the BBC Sherlock Fan Forum for editing and Brit-picking my story, and for the title she suggested! And for the help she gave me regarding grammar schools and 11+ exams.

Dr. John Watson perched on the edge of his twin bed, gazing proudly down at his general practitioner licence. He had received it that morning. _I did it!_ he thought. _I’m not only a doctor, but I’m also a general practitioner now!_ He smirked. _Take that, Dad! So, you thought I’d never make it, did you? Well, you were wrong! There was no way I was_ not _going to achieve my goal! And no, becoming a doctor_ doesn’t _make me posh as you thought!_

Rising to his feet and crossing the room, John pushed back the curtains to let the shafts of sunlight in, and then, sitting down, he leaned back against his hardback chair, reminiscing. Remembering the vicious arguments that he’d had with his father while Hamish was still alive. His father had given him such a hard time when John had told him he wanted to become a doctor when he grew up. 

_My dad thought I would be putting on airs if I went to uni and became a doctor,_ he thought, shaking his head. _He thought I’d become posh if I did that; that’s something he never had any cop for. It would only have been acceptable to him if I’d got out there and got a job as soon as I passed my GCSE exams, instead of studying for my A-levels and going to uni. I strongly suspect he would have much preferred that Harry and I attend the neighbourhood secondary school as our friends on our street did, instead of going to KEGS. But I wanted more. My mum wanted more, for both of us. It is most fortunate that our grades on the 11+ exam qualified us for grammar school, because I was so lucky to get to go to King Edward. I learned so much there, and it opened doors for me that would have surely been shut otherwise. I wish Mum was still here. I don’t regret that Dad is dead, but I do wish that Mum had survived the car accident. Perhaps with Dad gone, she would have been there for us more._ He sighed. _For that matter, I wish Mrs. Templeton was still here, too! I still miss her. I would have loved to show her my new GP licence. She’d be so proud of me, I know. I would have loved to celebrate with her._

Scratching his neck, John took another long look at his licence. Now that he had one, he would get it framed and hung on the wall next to his medical school diploma that he had received from the University of London at his graduation from King’s College London and his more-recent Programme Certificate of Completion that he’d been given upon his completion of his two years as house officer. When he had done that, he could go to the NHS and apply for a GP job in a surgery. But— He frowned. The question was, did he really want to? 

The newly certified GP sighed and shook his head. No, if he was going to be honest with himself, he had to admit that he didn’t. He really didn’t want to work as a GP. He would if he had to, but in truth, he didn’t want to, not if there were any options. He had never truly wanted to become a general practitioner; what he really wanted was to become a surgeon. The only reason he had opted to become a GP was because it was the programme with the most vacancies waited to be filled. But the sad truth was, John knew that he would be bored silly if he had to spend his days giving vaccinations, diagnosing stomach viruses, ear infections, and ulcers, and stuff like that. True, it would mean job security, but it would be truly dull if he had to spend his days like that for the next 40 years. He wanted something more. Something exciting. 

Suddenly, Dr. Watson leaped to his feet. Dropping his licence on his desk, he grabbed the phone book and looked up the London hospitals. Why not? After all, he _was_ a fully certified physician now; perhaps it was not too late to train as a surgeon! He began ringing them, one by one, to inquire about surgical training posts. 

At last, an hour after he had started making the phone calls, Dr. Watson flopped down on his bed, frustrated. To his disappointment, not a single one of the London hospitals had any openings, not for surgical training posts. He swore. “There’s _got_ to be a way!” he said to himself, clutching the corner of the mattress so tightly, his knuckles started to turn white. “There’s got to be _some_ way I can become a surgeon! But how?” 

With that, an idea exploded in John’s head. He wasn’t only a doctor now; he was also still a member of the Army Reserves! He had been one for the past seven years, ever since his first year in medical school, and he had advanced through the ranks to sergeant. Would it be possible for him to become an army surgeon? There should be _no_ shortage of posts waiting to be filled in the army! 

Picking up his laptop, John opened it and did an Internet search for the British army; once the British army home page came up, he started reading it. Before he could make any decisions, he first needed to find out what his options were, and whether becoming an army surgeon was, in fact, feasible. He spent the next half-hour carefully studying the Web site in its entirety, visiting its different links and watching some online videos, while paying special attention to the Royal Army Medical Corps link. 

Sure enough, it was just as he hoped: there was plenty of need for surgeons, especially in Afghanistan—mainly trauma surgeons. Well, with the war going on in Afghanistan, that was to be expected. Since Dr. Watson was already a reservist, albeit a non-commissioned officer, it would be easy for him to learn what he needed to know, so that he could become a good army surgeon. It would, of course, mean becoming a commissioned officer, which would mean training at Sandhurst. From what John had discovered while surfing the Web page, since he was already a licenced doctor, he could apply to become a Professionally Qualified Officer. He clicked on the _‘start my application’_ link and created an account; once that was finished, he proceeded to fill out the online application for joining. 

_I’ll have to go to Sandhurst once I’m accepted._ If _I’m accepted,_ he thought, as soon as he had finished filling out the application and had clicked on _‘submit’_. _Since I won’t be leading troops into battle, I’ll be taking a shorter course than a regular officer does. The hard part’s going to be explaining it to Harry; she’s going to throw a fit when she learns of my plans._ He frowned at the prospect, and then a smile spread across his face. _At least it’ll be easier to explain it to my commanding officer this weekend, when I go to my reserve unit. And if I_ am _accepted, I won’t have to settle for being a GP!_ He smiled at the prospect as eagerness welled up in his heart. He couldn’t wait!

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve borrowed from [sgam76’s](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgam76/pseuds/sgam76) characterization of John’s mother and father in her [“Scheherezade”](https://archiveofourown.org/series/559688) universe, and I’ve added my own touches to Hamish Watson’s character. Read sgam76’s [“A Pox on All Your Houses”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8183233/chapters/18748288) and [“A Long Walk Down a Dusty Road,”]() and you’ll see what I’m talking about.


End file.
